Egyptian Revival architecture
Posted on:4/11/2006
| Egyptian Revival is (primarily) an architectural style that references the visual motifs and imagery of Ancient Egypt. |
Egyptian Revival is (primarily) an architectural style that references the visual motifs and imagery of Ancient Egypt. It has never been enormously popular, unlike Greek Revival or Victorian was, but it has left its mark. There were several waves.
The first wave was inspired by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, and was mainly limited to furniture and associated decorative objects. It developed a special popularity later in the century as being particularly appropriate in mortuary contexts, as with cemetery gates.
A second wave of popularity developed in the 1840s and 1850s. From this period, only three actual buildings are known to survive. One is the 1851 Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee by architect William Strickland (who also did the Tennessee statehouse).
Another, designed by architect John Francis Rague, and completed in 1859, is the old Dubuque County, Iowa jail, now a historical museum. Rague is better known as architect of the old Iowa statehouse in Iowa City, Iowa
The third is the Egyptian Building of the Medical College of Virginia.
The discovery of the treasure of King Tut's tomb by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 led to a third revival. Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, USA, now home to the American Cinematheque, is an Egyptian Revival theatre from the era. The Egyptian revival of the 1920s is sometimes considered to be part of the Art Deco decorative arts movement. It was present in furniture and other household objects, as well as in architecture.
The Luxor Hotel & Casino in present-day Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, is a modern-day example of Egyptian Revival. The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California is another example.
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